Forum home Pregnancy Labour & birth

c section awake or asleep?

do you think it is best to have c section awake or asleep ?? what are the effects??

image

Replies

  • i was awake for my em c section. my understanding is they only use general anaesthetic if it is extremely uregnt to get baby out out in a matter of minutes and can't waste time using spinal block, so tbh i don't really think u get the choice. also even if u do get the choice i wld prefer to be awake when my baby acme into the world, they say it can affect bonding if ur not awake to hear their first cry, and come to not knowing who what where when or how. knocking some one w-out with GA is a lot more risky than using a spinal block, hence why they prefer to use spinal unless absolutely necessary. xx
  • well i am having my baby early , hoping to get to 28 weeks and anthing after that is a bonus, because i have a heart problem and since being pregnant my heart is deteriorating, so trying to hold on long enough for baby and then if my heart is still in a bad way after baby here, i will be having a relacement valve. so its a bit of a shock , so would be heartbreaking if i am awake and they take baby straight away from me to go in SCBU...x
  • oh dear, i bet ur scared. a friend of mine had a little girl at 27 weeks, she wld have been due on halloween but is 14 weeks old now and doing fab! i understand u won't want to se them taken away but wld it not be worse to wake up and not know if baby is ok? also i do believe that they only knock u out if there isn't the time to wait for a spinal block to take effect especially if u have a heart condition, general anaesthetic wld put alot more strain on ur heart than a spinal block. xx
  • thanks for your reply, helping me to get a better understanding of things image xx
  • I had my first son in July 08 by emergency section which ended up in me having a General Anaesthetic. Personally I felt as though as I had missed out as I didn't seem him as soon as he was born and had problems bonding. Not knowing what had happened was also difficult and an experience I felt guilty about missing.

    With my second son born in September 09, I had an elective section under a spinal block and it was a much nicer experience, although very nerve racking! I saw him as soon as he was born, knew what was happening and saw the placenta. I had no problems bonding this time round.

    Obviously its personal choice but I would prefer to be awake so you can see your baby straight away, and you can never fill in the gaps of what happened otherwise as nobody else is allowed in theatre if your having a GA.

  • i had a spinal and it was fine - much better than a GA. I couldn't hold my baby but i could see her and I was still "there" for the birth even if it wasn;t what I'd hoped for. I also couldn;t feel anything so don't worry about it feeling really weird of anything. It's very different from local aneasthtic when you have no pain but can tell what they're doing! with a spinal you're totally numb.
  • hey, as everyone has said i don't think you get the choice - the drs will decide what is best for you and your baby. i know what you are going through as i had to have steroids at 28 weeks and remain in hospital as i had placenta previa and bled loads from being 14 weeks pregnant, and the drs said i would have my baby the next time i had a very heavy bleed, so i had to have a look around scbu and try to prepare myself for having my baby early. luckily i got to 37 weeks before loosing so much blood i had to be ran to theatre, instantly put to sleep and my baby was born within 2 minutes, but he is perfect and only needed to be tubed for oxygen for 8 minutes and did not need to go to scbu. beforehand i was desperate to stay awake, i was terrified of the idea i wouldn't know my baby was mine and had heard of it affecting bonding, but this was not my experience at all. as soon as i saw my baby i knew he was mine and i felt this overwhelming love for him, a physical tingling feelings that started in my toes and travelled up my whole body. everything i thought would be important about seeing my baby come into the world wasn't and went out the window, all that matters is that he and i were both fine - and i'm sure you and your baby will have the same happy ending xxx
  • i will say when i was in labour and they told me i need to have a c section, i did ask to be put to sleep as i was so upset i was going to be awake when they were doing it, but they did say that my husband could not be there if i was asleep, so for my husband i stayed away, which when i think about it, i was happy i did, as i saw my daughter as soon as she was born,;\)

    Helen xhx
  • i asked to be put sleep but they just told me a firm and simple 'no', i was awake, apparently there are more complications with being put sleep as baby can react to the anaesthetic. one of my friends got put sleep half way through an emergency section because she kept fainting and felt it would be better. my lo was whisked off to neo-natal, but i did get to have a quick squeeze first.
  • Hi ladies,
    I had a spinal tap and an epidural but I was then given a general as I could still feel the procedure. I have always had a fear about having to have a general but it was good no pain or stress the only things I regret about the c-secction were not being able to share a birthing experience with my oh and not being able to hold my baby after as I couldn't feel my legs for the next 24hrs. That was 6 wks ago and I have recovered a lot lot quicker physically than when I had a natural vaginal birth.
    xjx
  • I had my daughter in Feb 09 after an emergency sect. I was awake and it was ok! I bonded with my daughter well and all in all was a good experience, even if not how I imagined I would have her
Sign In or Register to comment.

Featured Discussions